No matter if you’re the driver, fleet manager or company owner, it should always be in your interest to optimise fuel consumption. But, thankfully for you, Scania fuel efficiency is famous throughout the industry, with the Swedish manufacturer creating some of the most popular truck series that prioritise economic performance.
If you’re looking for a Scania truck for sale in the UK, there is no better dealership for you than Smith Bros. As used Scania specialists, we are the only independent dealership that can transfer the balance of the Scania main dealer R&M package. Experts in our field, we can provide your business with everything from tractor units to tipper lorries.
We don’t limit ourselves to Scania vehicles either; we also stock Mercedes-Benz trucks, DAF lorries and Volvo HGVs for sale to suit any kind of customer who comes across our services. Proud of our excellent customer support, we are an expert team with decades of industry experience. A family-run business since way back in 1969, we’re well-equipped to deal with any issues you may have.
But, while you consider which of our used trucks is best for your business, take a read through our blog to discover how you can practice fuel-efficient driving.
Why is fuel efficiency important?
Adopting thorough methods of fuel-efficient driving can have several benefits for your wallet, the planet and beyond. Indeed, if you care about maximising your profits and streamlining your business, you should consider practically enacting a series of fuel-efficient HGV driving techniques – they may even make you more conscious and alert on the road in the process. By keeping fuel efficiency in mind when driving, you can:
- Save money: Less fuel consumption means less money that you have to spend on refills.
- Improve driving: Fuel efficiency can also mean safer and more considered driving, making incidents far less likely.
- Help reduce your environmental impact: Maximising your tank of fuel by making sure you are not wasteful means that you can reduce the environmental impact of your journey.
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Scania fuel efficiency: Five practical ways to improve
Every logistics company should consider fuel efficiency as a key priority. By focusing on this issue, your business can save money and streamline operations, creating a financially sustainable company that’s built to last.
Avoid harsh driving techniques
If you’re an erratic driver, you could also be very inefficient in your fuel consumption. This is because poor driving habits, such as sudden braking and harsh acceleration, force your truck’s engine to overwork and burn more fuel than is necessary. By cutting out this poor driving etiquette, these issues can be eradicated, gradually improving the fuel efficiency of your fleet over time.
Harsh driving techniques can be tracked with contemporary technology like telematics. This innovative technology extracts statistics regarding driver performance and can even collate issues into a score that makes feedback tailored, straightforward and simple. Improving fleet safety and fuel efficiency at the very same time, telematics, like Scania’s own Fleet Management System, makes things easy.
Speeding and idling
Although totally different from one another, both speeding and idling can dramatically impact your fuel efficiency. When it comes to the former, speeding and fuel efficiency don’t exactly go hand-in-hand. In fact, to conserve fuel it’s best to stay well within the recommended speed limit of commercial vehicles, 30mph in built-up areas and 60mph on the motorway.
While speeding can overwork the engine of your truck, drastically increasing fuel consumption in the process, sitting idle in traffic has similar detrimental effects, while getting you nowhere at all. Wasting money and fuel while you sit stationary in traffic can be compounded if you’re using the air conditioning, with this system using a small amount of fuel to keep functioning. For optimal fuel efficiency, it’s best to turn off your vehicle when you’re in standstill traffic, as long as it’s safe to do so.
Cruise control and coasting
Petrol or diesel is consumed when you apply the accelerator pedal, so for every moment that you don’t have to use it, you’re saving fuel. Contrastingly, using your brakes will force your vehicle to lose its forward momentum. Coasting and not applying the brakes or the accelerator pedal is, therefore, a fuel-efficient driving approach as long as you’re doing so in close observation of the traffic around you.
Contemporary Scania trucks, like the R660, come fitted with cruise control. By applying cruise control, you can easily maintain a constant speed while on the motorway, allowing you to use only the fuel that you really need. Using cruise control and maintaining a constant speed also prevents you from speeding, which, as we’ve previously discussed, can quickly drain your fuel.
Route planning
By using route optimisation software you can efficiently plan journeys, reduce time on the road and improve fuel efficiency in the process. Being as proactive as possible in this preparation stage will allow you to enhance your fuel efficiency. For example, using route planning software together with telematics services allows you to fully optimise your fleet, ensuring drivers aren’t using bad on-road practices while also helping them avoid congested areas.
Embrace Scania’s innovation
Scania is a leader in fuel efficiency innovation, offering a range of different features that drivers can utilise to make the most out of a full tank. One such feature is Scania’s Opti-Cruise, available as a manual or automatic clutch. This cutting-edge feature makes gear changes faster and more efficient, meaning that you won’t lose power, saving fuel in the process.
But this is far from the only feature that Scania can boast. Scania’s award-winning trucks have modern aerodynamic features which reduce drag and help with fuel economy. Contemporary Scania vehicles can even offer full driver support that provides instant feedback, advising on how driving techniques can be improved to save fuel.
The role of proper vehicle maintenance
When it comes to fleet safety and management, there is nothing more important than proper vehicle maintenance. Carrying out thorough and regular HGV inspections will make sure that each of the vehicles in your fleet is prevented from experiencing serious issues later down the road, with preventative maintenance ensuring that your trucks are perfectly optimised to be fuel-efficient.
To be compliant with industry legislation and recommendations, aspects like tyre pressure, fluid levels, and more should be regularly checked. In addition, by putting your truck in to be professionally serviced, experts can identify issues that you may not have previously spotted. For example, pressure leakages, a seized brake or a clogged air filter could all cause a needless loss of fuel.
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How Scania’s fleet management software can help
Installed into all of Scania’s vehicles, Scania’s fleet management software is a type of telematics system that provides the user a way to track driving habits, vehicle performance and, importantly, fuel consumption. This software is essential when reporting back to drivers, too, giving them a tailored set of improvements that will help them become more fuel-efficient.
If you want to optimise fuel consumption, utilise Scania’s fleet management software to:
- Evaluate driver performance: Data and driving statistics gathered from Scania’s fleet management software can be used for driver coaching, providing a tailored list of ways that their habits could be improved.
- Identify and improve high fuel consumption: Scania’s fleet management software provides fuel reports on each vehicle, logging consumption, as well as information regarding when and where the vehicle was filled up. By using this, fleet operators can identify vehicles or drivers that are particularly bad when it comes to fuel inefficiency.
- Help you to plan routes: Route planning is instrumental in making the most of a tank of fuel, but by using Scania’s fleet management software, operators can optimise and finalise routes long before the journey. Optimising routes is essential for all lorry operators, especially when it comes to flatbed trucks, which can be awkwardly sized depending on their load.
- Optimise the performance of your fleet: As well as letting fleet operators know when a vehicle is refuelling, the management software will also report a list of journey events, logging where a vehicle is and when it’s stationary, among many other details. This tool makes it simple to identify possible vehicle maintenance issues and optimise your fleet for the future.
- Easily plan when servicing is required: Using Scania’s fleet management software gives you access to service planning, a calendar view that allows you to plan for upcoming scheduled repairs and services. This will help you to streamline your operations and make the most of your fleet.
Have more questions about Scania fuel efficiency? Contact Smith Bros
Optimising your fleet’s fuel efficiency can have several significant benefits, saving you money and improving driver performance, all while protecting your vehicles for the future. But, sometimes the best thing to optimise your fleet’s fuel efficiency is to have a vehicle refresh, switching out old vehicles with poor technical capabilities with brand-new models.
If you’re one such customer, reach out to Smith Bros today and explore our quality range of used trucks for sale from the very best brands in the industry, including Scania and DAF. Experts in our field, we are a family business that has been operating in the trucking industry since 1969, led by experts who are here to optimise exactly how your business works.
If you’re already set with your fleet, you could always consider some of our more specialist vehicles, like our curtain-side trailers or flatbed trucks. Alternatively, you could opt for our unique solutions, like our painting and wrapping service, which will allow you to decorate your truck with a professional and uniform colour scheme that proudly displays your company’s badge.
For the very best used lorries for sale in the UK, contact Smith Bros today to start optimising your fleet for the future.
FAQ
What is fuel efficiency?
Scientifically speaking, fuel efficiency measures the effort that your vehicle has to exert to convert the chemicals from fuel into energy that is necessary for forward propulsion. Optimising your vehicle’s fuel efficiency can save you money, improve the performance of your fleet and reduce your carbon footprint. Fuel efficiency can be achieved through proper driving techniques and innovative technical features.
What affects your truck’s fuel efficiency?
Several factors can affect your truck’s fuel efficiency, including elements within and outside the driver’s control. For example, a truck’s age, condition and regular load will impact its fuel efficiency, meanwhile, poor driving techniques will also result in your vehicle using more fuel than necessary.
In addition, driving in the winter also has a significant impact on the performance of your vehicle, thanks to how much energy is needed to operate auxiliary equipment, including fog lights, air conditioning, the battery and more.
What fuel economy MPG does a lorry get?
It’s difficult to pin down exactly what fuel economy miles per gallon a lorry gets since several factors, from road type to vehicle aerodynamics have a dramatic effect on this. Though, on average, for a loaded lorry on a motorway, drivers can anticipate 7 to 9mpg from a 44-tonne flatbed truck. This figure could easily drop, however, to as low as 5mpg on a normal two-way inner city road, which consists of regular stop-start driving.
What are the best HGVs for fuel efficiency?
The popular Swedish truck manufacturer Scania is widely believed to create the best fuel-efficient trucks on the market. In 2024, Scania won the Green Truck Award, a comprehensive and independent test organised by the German industry magazines Trucker and Verkehrs-Rundschau, for the ninth time.
The series that claims this title is Scania’s ‘Super’ range, which uses a 13-litre engine, Opticruise gearbox, R756 rear axle and a new modular chassis to streamline performance. Promising 8% fuel savings while helping to save the planet, Scania’s Super range is ideal for all kinds of truck companies.
